What The {bleep} Is Rhubarb?- Try Tuesday (T.T.)

MFH
Jun 3, 2015
2 min read

Before a Fourth of July meal two years ago, I had no idea.

Honestly, writing this post right now, I'm not entire sure what it is, despite having used it before. So, I took to my trusty friend, Google.

Rhubarb- the edible, fleshy leafstalks of R. rhabarbarum, used in making pies, preserves, etc.

So, it is a vegetable, akin in its raw texture to celery, that is used with many fruits to create a sweet tasting dish. Unlike many vegetables, rhubarb has the ability to act like a fruit when cooked with other fruit dishes. I wonder who was the first one to think that the combination of this softened vegetable with a fruity syrup wouldbe a good idea, but they hit the nail right on the head. Well, maybe after getting sick once of twice, because the leaves of the rhubarb plant are poisonous. My thrill in trying to prepare dishes that include foreign ingredient was piqued two years ago when I saw this "mystery" ingredient in an Independence Day themed pie.

You see, for most holiday meals at my family's home, I'm put in charge of what the menu will consist of for that day. In pursual of something that wasn't the usual holiday cake or batch of blue and red cookies. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Okay, let's sneak these ingredients onto mom's grocery list.

I guess the the main reason I didn't know what rhubarb was is because I didn't grab for a fresh batch from the produce aisle; I opted for the bag in the frozen food section that was situated right next to the frozen strawberries I also needed. Thus my confusion begun.

My creation, muahaha

The baking of the pie went smoothly and the instructions were pretty simple. The pie (featured in one of the rolling images on the page "The Blog") tasted great - the sugary syrup coupled well with the not too soft strawberries and rhubarb as a filling. The rhubarb also added an element of tartness that worked well. This pie was a great introduction for me to this mystery ingredient, and I would recommend this as a starter if you are not too familiar with rhubarb as well.

Also, I still don't know what rhubarb tasted like in its natural form (i.e. without sugary syrup), so I will depend on this until I find another recipe to try with rhubarb in it.

Here's the recipe to that lovely pie:

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/strawberry_rhubarb_pie/

SICT- Bad Things by Jace Everett

So, the thing to know here is that during the time I was making this pie, I was smack-dab in the middle of a days long True Blood marathon, trying to catch up right before the new season started. I don't know how many times I had heard the theme song, but it has been foreven ingrained in my mind.